West Virginia College of Law Dean Amelia Rinehart
Nov. 2, 2021––Recognized expert in patent theory and patent law Amelia Smith Rinehart will present the Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law’s fall lecture on navigating multiplexed technology transfer.
Sponsored by the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association (HIPLA), the lecture will be held on Thursday, November 4 at 6:15 p.m. at the University of Houston Law Center in Room 109 BLB.
Lecture attendees may be eligible to earn one hour of continuing legal education credit.
Rinehart––the William J. Maier, Jr. Dean and Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law––will illuminate and uncover the layers of ownership rules in the complicated landscape of technology transfer and commercialization in the academic setting. These transfers often involve academic employees of universities as well as employees of private entities and state and federal agencies, creating multiple layers of private ordering and regulation related to invention ownership.
In her lecture, Rinehart will outline the default rules of ownership concerning ordinary employees of universities, private entities, and federal agencies. She’ll then address how these ownership rules can be changed due to private agreement or regulation and how each of these different parties can interact with inventors to gather information and commercialize technology within this framework.
Rinehart’s background includes several years of law practice and expertise in in intellectual property litigation, procurement, and counseling.
Rinehart received her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2002. She earned a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from Tulane University in 1996 and graduated the following year with a master of science in biomedical engineering, also from Tulane University. Prior to attending law school, Rinehart worked as an engineer at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Please email ipil@uh.edu to RSVP for the lecture.
